Overwhelming Firepower

During that night, it wasn’t just Daniel who was attacked. Other recruits had suddenly been attacked by not just monsters, but other recruits as well.

After the incident with Daniel, Lucen was quick to act and immediately sent a few knights and mages nearby to react to any such behavior.

If it were a monster that attacked the recruits, the knights and the mages were ordered not to intervene unless the recruits crushed the rune-engraved stone. Only save the recruits if the other party has no chance of fighting back anymore.

As for the recruits who were planning on attacking other recruits with the intent of killing them, Lucen had ordered the knights and mages to knock out the attackers and bring them back to Ironhold for interrogation.

***

In a single night, many of the recruits had retired from the trial. There had been a few deaths against monsters, but none against other humans.

Many of those who died against monsters did not give up until the end. Some of them even had smiles on their faces as if relieved. Lucen had the knights and mages recover their bodies.

To those who died in battle, Lucen was going to make sure that their final request would be upheld. He would also give a bit of coin to the families they left behind.

Even though they were not part of Thornefang yet, Lucen decided to bury them among the other soldiers who died in monster waves. He asked permission from his Father if he could do so. Vardon did not even think about it and allowed it.

***

The funeral happened in the early morning, when the sun was rising. It was a simple funeral, with the members of Thornefang attending and a few knights and mages.

Everyone then started singing the song for the warriors gone, onto their next glorious battle. The song was not of sorrow but of pride that they had died as warriors with bravery and honor.

When the last blade falls, and the banners fold,

And hearts lie still, their courage told,

He waits beyond where thunder drums,

Varkun calls, the honored come.

Velmira guides our souls to the warrior’s hall,

Varkun’s army of the brave and true.

He gathers those whose steel has sung,

And brings them home, their fight well-won.

To the next glorious battle, to prove their honor,

Under Varkun’s banner forevermore.

As they were singing, the coffins were placed into the ground.

Raise the steel, let the drums resound,

Honor stands where the brave are found.

Varkun calls, and we answer the roar,

Marching with our fallen, forevermore.

The song grew louder as the dirt was being placed upon the coffins. No one wept for the deceased; only pride remained, pride that they had fought to their last breath.

’I’ve already seen too many deaths,’ Lucen thought, watching the dirt fall heavily over the coffins. ’And every time, I feel a little less. If it were the old me, the one who hadn’t become Lucen Thornehart, I’d be broken by now. I’d be vomiting at the sight of so many bodies, shaken apart by nightmares I couldn’t wake from.’

He sighed inwardly. He wasn’t that man anymore. Not the modern one who played games in another world, nor the sickly boy chasing his father’s approval. Somewhere along the way, those pieces had been burned away. What remained was something else entirely, someone who could watch men die and keep walking forward.

***

After the funeral, Lucen headed to the newly made HQ of Thornefang. In one of the rooms, several people were waiting for him.

”So what did you find out?” Lucen asked Harlik who had a report ready.

”After a bit of questioning. Many of these people were paid to try to infiltrate Thornefang from the inside. As for what they were supposed to do once they became one of us... Well, most of them answered that they weren’t told to do anything more than just join Thornefang. Supposedly, they would receive further orders once they were able to join.”

”A common tactic of wanting to send in spies into an organization,” Lucen commented.

”The others were told to get as much information on you, then report back to whomever it was that hired them. There were also some that had no one hired them; they just wanted to join Thornefang so badly that they were willing to either force others to quit, some even had the thought of killing others to better their chances of joining.”

”Who would allow such a person to join us? Those kinds of people would stab you in the back when things become dire for them.” Lucen scoffed. ”As for those who were hired to try and infiltrate Thornefang. Once the trials are done, tell them to contact their employers. We’ll catch them all in one fell swoop.”

***

Unaware of what was happening outside the forest of monsters, the other recruits were getting ready for their second day of survival in the forest.

Bram walked ahead of the others, boots muffled in the frostbitten undergrowth. They trailed behind him, two boys too loud, one girl too cautious, but he didn’t bother telling them to keep up. If they couldn’t stay alive in silence, they wouldn’t stay alive at all.

He kept his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, eyes scanning the trees with the same cold, steady rhythm he used for breathing. Every shadow could be an enemy. Every broken branch could be a trap.

He didn’t trust any of them, not the recruits, not the trees, not even the quiet. Especially not the quiet.

Last night had proven what he already suspected: the real danger wasn’t the monsters. It was the desperation in men’s eyes when the prize was too big and the rules too few.

A sudden crack in the distance froze them all mid-step. The others stiffened, looking to Bram like he was supposed to have the answers. Well, he didn’t, not yet anyway.

But his fingers tightened around the hilt. His heartbeat didn’t quicken. It just steadied, like a drum waiting for the first strike.

When he walked a little bit forward, he saw that it was just a bird looking for food. Bram did not hesitate and quickly killed the bird so that he could eat it.

***

On the other side of the forest, Veronica moved with a quiet, deliberate grace, her spear balanced across her shoulders as though it weighed nothing. The damp air clung to her armor, and the smell of wet leaves mixed with the iron tang of blood that never quite washed off.

She walked at the front of her small band, but unlike Bram, she didn’t walk apart. She kept her formation tight, her eyes everywhere, not because she feared the people behind her, but because that was what a leader did.

She understood what they had all signed up for. Men fought for glory, power, and survival. And when the prize was worth dying for, trust was always the first casualty.

That night, one of the other recruits had tried to slit her throat while she was on watch. It wasn’t a monster, nor some rival with a grand grudge.

It was a person who fought with them against a few monsters. He suddenly thought one less competitor meant one more chance at a future.

Veronica was able to subdue him before anything else happened, but it wasn’t just him. A few of the people with her suddenly attacked the other recruits.

It was at that moment that some knights came and easily subdued the attacking recruits, and then they were dragged back to Ironhold.

Still, after that, Veronica needed to calm down the remaining recruits. If they were to survive this place filled with monsters, they needed to be able to trust one another with their backs.

Veronica sat by the fire with the survivors, her spear propped upright beside her, its shadow stretching long in the flicker of the flames. The faces around her were tight, some pale, some hollow, all of them still shaken.

The recruits’ eyes flicked toward her, some with doubt, some with a plea. She was young, they all knew it, but right now, youth didn’t matter. Even if she wasn’t the oldest in the group, she knew she needed to take charge.

”You saw what happened,” she said evenly, her voice cutting through the quiet. ”Men turned on their own because they thought it would make their path easier.”

No one spoke, no one knew what to say at the moment.

”I understand that you might be afraid, but hear me now,” Veronica continued, leaning forward, her tone still calm but carrying a weight that demanded attention. ”If you lose yourselves to fear, you’ll make their mistake for them. You’ll start seeing monsters in every shadow, even the ones standing beside you.”

She let that sink in, then jabbed her thumb toward the trees. ”The real monsters are still out there. They don’t care about your doubts, and they won’t hesitate when they find you arguing over who might betray whom. So stay focused, and keep your blade pointed the right way.”

A quiet murmur of agreement rippled through the group. It wasn’t trust, not yet, but it was control, and for now, that was enough.

***

Thrall crouched over the corpse of a horned beast, steam rising from its torn throat into the cold morning air. Blood streaked his knuckles, already drying dark against the pale scars that ran across them. He flexed his hands once, twice, there was no pain, only the dull thrum of impact singing through his bones like a familiar song.

While others schemed, Thrall hunted. No steel, no tricks. Just flesh, bone, and the clean honesty of a fight fought face to face, with nothing but his body.

The night before, screams had carried through the forest, steel on steel, men on men, ambition over dreams.

He hadn’t gone to check. If they wanted to burn each other down, let them. Less noise for him to deal with later.

He stood, rolling his shoulders until they cracked, then wiped the worst of the blood on the beast’s coarse fur.

He didn’t think about plans or politics. There were monsters in the forest. Monsters needed killing. And his hands worked just fine. To Thrall right now, there was only the hunt.

***

In another part of the forest, Daniel was slightly irritated by the morning light. He could hear the varying noises from different parts of the forest.

Still, there was nothing near him, and there was no sign of danger. Despite what happened during the night, Daniel was unbothered by it. He might move if he felt hungry, but for now, he decided not to do anything and continued to sleep.